So many different cables. For what?

In computer field the (probably) most common cables are HDMI, DisplayPort (DP), ThunderBolt (TB) and of course old-good USB. Lets try to understand each other of them, what they do and what is the difference.

Lets start with ThunderBold (TB)

ThunderBolt 1 (announced 2011) was able to transfer picture from computer to one

monitor with resolution up to 2560 x 1600px with 60hz.

ThunderBolt 2 (announced 2013) was able to transfer picture to two monitors with a resolution 2560 x 1440, 60hz (QHD) OR to one monitor up to 3840 x 2160, 60hz (4K)

Now, new winds are blowing. We have new interface with a name ThunderBolt 3 (announced 2015). It looks JUST like widely

known USB-C. And it fits to the same port, as well. With thunderbolt 3 you are able to connect up to 1x 4K monitor at 120hz or 2x 4K monitors at 60hz.

But wait, there's more! In the 2020 they introduced us "totally new" Thunderbolt 4

cable. Looks just like the previous one but is capable to connect one 8K monitor.

All thunderbolt cables through ages are capable to transfer data, audio and video.

Thunderbolt 3 and 4 are also capable to transfer power/electricity which makes them perfectly suitable for many industry fields as well as for computer docking set-ups.

USB-A

USB-A has probably been the most common interface since the computing world did it's first steps - in 1996. In the last decade we have had USB 2.0 (with data transfer speed of 480Mb/s), USB 3.0 (5Gb/s), USB 3.1 (10Gb/s), and USB 3.2 (20Gb/s). They look all one and same and are able to transfer only data. However, USB 3.0, USB 3.1 and USB 3.2 were made in both shapes, regular USB-A and USB-C.

Years went by and in the 2014 the mobile industries came out with the new product which they named USB-C. A Year later ThunderBolt cables were made with the same connector so look is identical but difference is in data transfer speeds. USB-C is able to transfer data with speed up to 20Gb/s whereas Thunderbolt 3/4 are capable for 40 Gb/s (which is required to transfer video signal). That is the reason why you cant use regular USB-C cable for computer docking system - data transfer is just not enaugh for that purpose.

HDMI and DisplayPort.

There has been a 6 different versions of standard-looking HDMI cables. We talk about last 3 because these are still most widely available on the market.

HDMI 1.4 - introduced in 2009 and is able to transfer QHD at 60fps or 4K at 30fps.

HDMI 2.0 - introduced in 2013 and is able to transfer 4K at 60fps or FHD at 240fps.

HDMI 2.1 - introduced in 2017 and is able to transfer 4K at 144fps or 8K at 60fps.

And last but not least DisplayPort

Last two versions are:

DisplayPort 1.4 - supports up to 8K at 60fps.

DisplayPort 2.0 - supports up to 16K 60fps or 10K 80fps.

The reason why DisplayPort offers such a huge resolution support is the reason why DisplayPort cable is different from HDMI cable - you can connect different monitors simultaniously through one DP cable. This is thanks to MST (multi-stream-transport) technology. However, with every monitor you connect behind it, the resolution is divided between those monitors. Its possible to connect up to 4 monitors to one DP cable. Example - if you have one monitor in 16K resolution and you connect it to the computer then you can have 16K resolution. If you connect 3 other monitors behind there, all will be in 4K resolution (if other monitors are capable for up to 4K resolution). That technology is used in many movie and video industries as well as in daisy-chain possibilities which helps you to connect wider range of monitors with less cables and easier set-up.

About daisy-chain possibilities read more from our Daisy-chain article.